Country info and advice - India
The following comments are from teachers who have taught, or are currently teaching, in India. If you are a teacher and have some advice to share, please add it here.
India is a country with a
mixed population of different languages. In northern India, the common language
is Hindi and in southern India, ther are four different languages,
Tamil in Tamilnadu, Telegu in Andhrapradesh, Malayalam in Kerala and Kannada in
Karnataka. English is the common language for communication in India. The
northern Indian food practice is somewhat different from southern India with
wheat being the primary food item in the north, and rice in the south.
Regarding culture and customs, dress code is very important to foreigners in
India, especially female foreigners. You should wear long pants with shirts (half
sleeve).
Consumption of alcohol is not a
social practice here and females don't drink and also don't smoke. You
may come across men in intoxicated conditions in streets and roads, but in
general, alcohol is not approved of as a social practice.
www.unitycharity.org
I've worked in two English
colleges in India, primarily teaching IELTS.
My first experience was in the state of Gujarat. All foreign staff (approx. 8
people from as far apart as the USA, Australia, Hungary and Estonia) were fired
over the course of about ten months, for absolutely ridiculous reasons. This is
mostly because there is such a gross misunderstanding between the two cultures
(east vs west) and some fairly archaic management practices from the female
boss.
My work contract comprised of a 6-day work week, which they explained was due to
the very large number of religious holy days and public holidays... however,
each time one came around, the school would still open, and we were still
expected to teach.. despite being told otherwise. This made a huge difference to
our experience because it meant going on weekend trips and exploring the state
became impossible.
My advice is to keep things simple. If they offer you a "package" including a
furnished apartment, I would be more inclined to try to negotiate finding your
own housing, with additional pay. This way you can try to keep 'employers' out
of your personal life, which I found they loved to pry and keep close control
over.
Overall, i have a terrible time with my employers, but having said all of this
though, I absolutely loved my students, and still remain in contact with some of
them to this day. They were very animated and passionate about so many of the
topics discussed, well most days, more like argued... a wonderful experience.
Very hot. Humid. Wet season flash floods, great community of people.
Beware if you are female as you may be followed and attacked before you know it.
I also know from my experience of having many close friends in the community
that alcohol abuse is rampant (always the way when it is illegal) and that gang
rapes still, unfortunately occurs.
My second experience was a lot more benign, in southern India in Bangalore; a
much more cosmopolitan city, where foreigners are much more welcome, with
approx. 30,000 expats living there -so at least you won't stand out so much as
in Gujarat.
The school I taught at was in was a very small Christian school. Most students
were nurses from Kerala, seeking to work in the UK in nursing homes... I found
the students to be overly polite. Teaching was expected to be delivered from a
pulpit and getting students to speak and interact was like pulling teeth.
(obviously used to being lectured about English than producing it themselves).
My role was to solely teach "speaking". Even my best tricks hardly worked.. and
to be honest, I quickly got bored. A very friendly reception from the
principal's family, who resided at the school - where I also stayed.
Advice: don't rely on earnings to live and spend comfortably.
I would say in summary, that unless you are really passionate about teaching in
India, I would much prefer to just travel around. I think the one benefit of
teaching is that you get to stay at a place long term and meet and interact with
locals that you otherwise couldn't do whilst backpacking around. But having said
that, getting to know a people on such a personal level was also laden with
problems.
India is the world's most
multi-cultural country in the world. India, to many, conjures a single entity
but in reality India is diverse in language, food, clothes and climatic
conditions. Teaching here, then, is a multi cultural, multi religious, multi
language experience and can be very challenging. This is urban India. Rural
India has its own challenges. Realising that learning English makes all the
difference and that the only way to bridge the economic gap is to learn English,
many state governments have introduced English at level/class one. It would be
my pleasure to answer questions/queries on India and for those of you who would
like to come here and be a part of the movemment of taking English to the
villages - please do keep in touch (ushagowri@gmail.com).
Ms Mary, I wonder if the
"drinking" part of the mail is real today. In Bangalore, women drink and I
wonder how many of us stand in awe or shock. Anonymous's post is very worrying
too because it paints this country in an absolute terrible state. It is
experiences like these that bring such shame to India. The reality is, much of
their knowledge of the West comes from movies and they assume it is easy to have
a relationship or casual relationship with foreigners than say with Indians and
thus they become prey to letching men. In fact, one of the main focus when I do
cross culture is to tell boys :noooo.......that's not the way it is... they
never believed me!!
Every country has good and bad
characters. I can't agree with the remarks of Anonymous. It may be true. There
may be rapes, gangrapes also. Who can say... our country isn't perfect. There
are no rapes/gangrapes reported in this country... That is happening everywhere
in this world. I've visited many countries. Out of these countries, I cannot
blame India only for this reason. Bombay (Maharastra State of India) is a
cosmopolitan city. There we can see 'Red Streets' (licenced brothel). Long ago
it was the paradise for job-seekers. They were living alone since the
accommodation was very costly and they can't live with family with their income.
So to do the biological needs they were visiting Red Streets. I've not read any
rapes reported in the newspapers in 1970s. See the culture of UK and other
countries. After the age of 18, they live with their partners for months or
years. Sometimes they will marry with their partner. We can see single parents
everywhere in UK. Since the marriages are arranged by parents in India, there is
strength for family relations.
Proficiency should be the
ultimate goal when learning English for many Asians. Grammar is important of
course, but Asian students who accomplished A's in English papers (grammar
based, mainly in secondary) have turned out to be very poor when it comes to
simple, daily, conversational English.
I have been to India at least
10-15 times and to several cities. To respond to "Anonymous": I would really
like to teach in India. Unfortunately, through my university studies in US and
meeting people in India, I have come to realize that people in India really
would rather not interact much with people who look like / sound / act like
foreigners. However, if you look / sound / act Indian, then you are home-free.
This can depend where in India you are, but for the most part, this is true. So
I would say that if you really want to teach people there how to speak English,
you should probably try to learn at least Hindi or if you are going to the
south, you may need to try to pick up the local language (Tamil, Telegu,
Kannada, Konkini, etc) before you start teaching English. This way, the students
will often open up to you more quickly, and you can focus on teaching rather
than trying to focus on how to get them to speak in English, a language that
they may rarely speak in. You mentioned your "employer" prying into your private
life. See, this I have to respond to. I realize where you are coming from...In
US, if you are sent to a foreign country and given an apartment, or you work in
India for a US corporation, employers will pretty much stay out of your home
life. But in India, people are very social. It is very normal for employers and
employees to associate with each other socially. Also, your employers may have
viewed what they were doing as "hospitality" rather than "prying". Part of your
experience was in the state of Gujarat. There is a ban on alcohol there, but of
course, alcohol is plentiful in the state. But the ban goes like this....It is
illegal for locals to have / purchase / drink alcohol. However, it is perfectly
LEGAL for foreigners to have / purchase / drink alcohol. So what happens? Many
families have family members living abroad. The people living abroad bring it
into the house in Gujarat. And because that person is a foreigner, it is
perfectly legal. I do not drink myself, and do not advocate it, but the ban is
not the way to go about discouraging it either.
I wonder who told you that the
brothels in what is known as the red light district of Mumbai are licensed. The
brothels are actually illegal. The fact that the police are complicit in
allowing them to run does not suddenly make them legal. The police are simply
paid by the brothels so that the police do not shut down the brothels. As for
rapes, I have read about rapes recently. I don't know about the 1970s as I was
not born until several years later. But aside from that, one rape I heard about
was actually committed by a police officer. He took a girl inside a booth on the
road, closed the door of the (what is known in India as a police "chowky") and
raped her. Mumbai is a very large city, and in India especially -- just because
an FIR (First Information Report) is not filed does not mean that the incident
never happened. It just means that it wasn't reported. People are more afraid of
the tax man than the police. But people don't often report cases to the police
because some of the police are criminals or have been bribed by criminals to do
criminal deeds. That said, if you find corruption in the police force, there are
phone hotlines you can call, and some honest court judges you can report to in
order to have something done. Justice in India comes very slowly, if at all, but
if no one steps up to the plate, then nothing will happen.
Working in India is a life
enriching experience in itself. Most of the foreigners who work in India should
get acquainted with our culture. If I look for a job in another country it
becomes my duty to know and understand more about its cultutre. The bottom line
is that we respect our teachers more than any other country. Traditionaly, the
teacher student relationship is that of respect and nothing else. Teachers
coming from outside need to understand that the element of friendship with a
student should be kept to a minimum. I am not saying that fear rules. What I am
trying to say here is that respect is the key element.
I completely agree with the
descriptions of Mary and Anonymous. I don't really understand some of the
naysaying responses? They seem to pick up on a single element of Anonymous' post
and respond as if that single element were the entire or the main focus.
Anonymous did not suggest that she tried to be the students' friend - but that
she tried to move beyond pure lecture / theory into "actually using" the skill
being taught. As a trainer here in India, I have had the same problem not only
with trainees but with training trainers. It has been a struggle to inculcate
the idea of "actually have the leaners do it"! Don't just 'talk' about the
skill.
As for the prying - Yes that's exactly what they were doing. Not helping.
Helping focuses on the wants of the recipient. Prying is a way of establishing
control and thereby rank. And like the rest of Asia - India is a highly
stratified society. Those in power insist that their status be recognized.
Because foreigners come from a place where the power behaviours are different,
Indians may force recognition in these subtle ways. You are NOT imagining things
if you see your treatment this way.
To women. Each state will be different.
The north will generally be more dangerous for you then the south. Either way double cover
your cleavage. That means a shirt and a scarf. It's not right, but your life will be better.
I have to say that my experiences here in India
for the past ten months coincide completely with the descriptions of Anonymous. But having said that,
there are big differences between schools in cities and the rural countryside. And most educated Indians
know their country's wilds only from excursions. They rarely lived there. The cities have excellent
teachers equipped with modern teaching techniques. They understand that a person/child who feels at
ease makes a better learner. Friendliness and encouragement doesn't mean to reduce academic standards.
In the countryside, especially the backwaters of India things are different. Half of the teachers I
work with do not have the qualifications or knowledge needed to be a waiter in a good Indian hotel.
Their one and only dexterity lies in wielding the rod. Their general knowledge is close to zero. i.e
Fifth class teachers cannot handle simple Math like fractions. To beat up or just hurt a child that
doesn't even reach your waist is maybe what constitutes "respect!" It took me months to establish
"different" rules in my classes. i.e. no hitting, no pushing etc. I feel perfectly respected by the
kids, they flock to my classes. But as a woman I realize I am a challenge to every male teacher.
Women however tend to at least try new methods and once they realize that their students' progress
faster they tend to change. And yes they pry. I believe that this has to do with what we bring and
have with us.
Teachers here earn an average of Rs 1.500 - 2.500 in private and Rs 12.000 in public
schools. An Indian book costs around Rs. 300 so buying some five or six books a month, or having a
laptop or having a good facial cream let's say from Clinique (Rs 4.000) creates an envious curiosity
even if you do everything not to brag and seem as humble as possible. I have learned to act as Indians
do. I am polite but I do not answer private questions anymore. I don't share what, when and how I am
doing things.
I have split accomodation from work and pay my own rent. And yes it infuriates my to
see a cocky young headmaster whom a little exercise would do well, ring a bell to have the sweeper
lady run through half the school to then hand her papers that he wants to be placed on the table
next to him. But for lack of other qualifications he grows two of his fingernails to a disgusting
length to show the world that he is not doing manual work. Well he's not doing mental work either.
So my personal private restricted view is that if what is generally called "respect" comes from
being physically stronger, so be it. I think it rather comes from being responsibly taking on
ownership, being a role model and being trustworthy in one's character and abilities. Well a
very personal view which definitely hasn't reached these parts yet.
I wonder if I misunderstood the comment in Nick's advice...
"and you can focus on teaching rather than trying to focus on how to get them to speak in English, a language
that they may rarely speak in..."
Isn't TEFL teaching all about "using" the language. Activate stage? Keeping TTT to the absolute necessary?
Please explain as I might have gotten it all wrong.
My husband and I have been going to India for the past
4 years to teach conversational English in a large rural girls school. We enjoy the Indian people and being in India.
We feel as if it's our second home. We are volunteers. I feel very strongly that we should respect the Indian peoples' way of life,
not necessarily agree with it. Change in India is coming slowly. I don't feel like we should
be critical of the Indian lifestyle even though we do not agree. As teachers we are, slowly, causing changes which will
help to improve the life of those we teach and their families.
If your advice is about a specific school, please post it in our forum
English language schools in India
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